


The Cradling

by SimplyEssa



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: 5 plus 1, Angst, Blood and Injury, Canon-Typical Violence gone wrong, Cuddles, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Humour, Heavy Angst, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Hurt Lance (Voltron), Hurt/Comforf, Injured Keith (Voltron), Injured Lance (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) Angst, Kissing in the Rain, Lance (Voltron) Angst, Langst, M/M, MM, Major Character Injury, Mild Injuries, Worried Lance (Voltron), at the end, im not sorry, kangst, klangst, okay so those three are /in/ it, the rest just talk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-22
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2018-12-21 14:48:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11946522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SimplyEssa/pseuds/SimplyEssa
Summary: "Please, just put me down," Lance croaked, covering his face with his hands."But, Pidge said-""/Please!/"OrFive times Keith 'cradled' Lance in his arms, and one time Lance cradled Keith in his.(The format does have italics, I just can't figure out how to put it in the summary.)





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> THIS WILL BE SEVEN CHAPTERS LONG...  
> i'm bad at this.  
> i shouldn't start new works...  
> AT LEAST THERES A PLANNED SEVEN CHAPTERS

After all of the time he spent swimming back on Earth, you'd think he'd have strong legs.

Wrong.

He could run fast, sure, and they were stronger than the average persons, but when he was tired, they refused to hold him up.

So that's how he ended up here, half laying on the couch, half kneeling on the floor, with Pidge giving him a bemused look.

"What are you doing?" she asked, hardly pausing in her typing.

Lance just groaned, burying his face into the cushion. Talking wasn't something he had energy for, right now.

"Lance."

Lance flopped an arm in her direction.

He heard Pidge huff, turn off her computer, and left the room.

_Finally_ , he thought, _no more noises. Just sleep-_

An arm was wrapped around his knees, and another around his shoulders. He sighed tiredly, leaning into the warmth. He didn't really know who it was, but he didn't care. Maybe it was Hunk...

"C'mon," A familiar voice said, making Lance squawk in protest as he was shifted into a bridal position. "You're going to bed."

"Keith!" He screeched, placing his hands on that muscled, firm chest- oh, it would be so easy to put a kiss- "Put me down!" He pushed those thoughts away and shoved at Keith's chet, trying to get out of his arms. Keith blinked in confusion, but walked out of the room with Lance in his arms, who was now covering his burning face with his hands. He heard Pidge cackle from somewhere behind them, but Keith seemed oblivious to it.

"Pidge said you were tired and were falling asleep on the couch, in a weird position. She can't carry you and couldn't find Hunk, so. Yeah. I'm helping," Keith explained, turning the corner to the rooms.

"Please, just put me down," Lance croaked, peeking between his fingers to find Keith... blushing? And refusing to look at him?

"But Pidge said-"

" _Please_!"

"Remember this one, and maybe I will," Keith said smugly, a smirk on his face.

"Remember what?"

"I will drop you."

"Please do that!"

Keith huffed, stopping in his tracks. "Fine," Keith hissed, giving Lance about half of a millisecond to realize he was going to fall. He  landed with a dull thud and a bone crushing pain, rubbing his ass with a pout on his face. "Excuse me for trying to be a good friend," Lance stared at him as he stormed off, his fists clenched and steam practically coming out of his ears. Why the hell was he so mad? Lance should be mad! He had picked him up without consent, refused to put him down when he asked, and when he finally did, he dropped him on his ass in the middle of the hallway-

"Smooth," Hunk commented beside him, arms folded as he leaned on the wall.

"Fuck off," Lance muttered, rubbing his back. "Help me up."

"Sorry, buddy," Hunk really didn't sound _sorry_. "But that's what Keith tried to do, and I don't want to drop you."

He smiled, winked, then left Lance on his ass in the middle of the floor.

"I'm wounded," Lance glared after his ' _best friend_ '. 

"Just apologize to Keith and ask him for help!"

"And risk getting dropped on my ass again- Hunk, get back here! Hunk!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more fluff  
> angst is coming tho  
> bear with me  
> (bare?)

Movie nights on the Castle were always fun.

Pidge, the small genius prodigy, had files in her computer of a lot of movies from Earth. Along with quite a few discs, too.

The only problem was they couldn't all see it on Pidge's small computer screen.

Hunk decided to fix that.

Along with Coran and Pidge's help, they managed to make a projector of sorts. It had the look of an Earth projector, but it had Altean parts and wires instead of Earth's.

So now, they had a projector, and a screen, set up in the common room to watch movies on. 

Tonight, Pidge's computer was hooked up to it.

She had set it up an hour ago, and they were still arguing.

"But, Star wars, Keith! How could you not like Star Wars?!"

"The first three were good," he shrugged, sipping on a juice pouch casually. "But when they went into the backstory stuff, it just turned out to be shit-"

"You- you- How are we friends?!"

Keith shrugged again.

"What about a documentary?" Shiro, the golden child of every school, asked. Allura was leaning against him, practically asleep on his shoulder. His human arm was wrapped around her shoulders, while his robotic one was resting on a dvd box of the Lorax. "Allura and Coran could learn about Earth's history-"

"Sorry, just deleted all of the documentaries."

Shiro rolled his eyes with a small smile.

"What about the Lorax?" Hunk asked, taking the dvd from Shiro. 

A chorus of 'No's filled the room.

"Sorry," he muttered sheepishly, placing the box on the floor.

"Star Wars!"

"Lorax!"

"Guys! Shut the fuck up!" Pidge shouted over all of them, making them all close their mouths. Lance huffed and placed his chin on his hand, leaning against the armrest. Keith crossed his arms and leaned into the cushions beside him, just so happening to be beside Lance. They hadn't really planned for it to be like that- Well, Lance did, but, Keith didn't have to know that. He had deliberately shown up last so he would get the only empty spot: The one beside Keith. "We're watching Ghostbusters."

"The remake or the original..?" Keith asked quietly, seemingly shrinking into the cushions.

"The remake, dumbass," Pidge scoffed, starting the movie. "I loved the original, but I don't have it. The only copy I could find, when we were on Earth, was the one from this year."

"Hooray," Keith cheered sarcastically, and again, it looked like he was trying to hide in the cushions.

The movie started, but Lance didn't pay attention to it. He was watching Keith, who was getting a little pale.

"Keith? What's wrong?" He asked quietly, moving so he was pressing against Keith.

"I.. Nothing. I'm fine."

"That's bullshit-"

"Please, just- just leave me alone."

Lance blanched, but obeyed. He didn't move from Keith, and Keith didn't seem to object against the contact. If anything, he leaned into Lance's side, his whole body screaming 'I want to talk about it, bother me, talk to me.'

Despite the itch underneath his skin, his need to help and comfort Keith, he didn't.

He didn't.

* * *

Boy, was Lance an idiot.

Twenty minutes into the movie, Keith had hyperventilated himself into unconsciousness.

No one else seemed to notice, though, and Lance wouldn't have either, if he didn't feel Keith's chest expanding at a rate way too fast for humans to properly breathe with.

"Uh, guys?" Should he tell them? Or would Keith be embarrassed? Maybe he didn't want the team to know? It was probably something personal... If he wanted it kept private and he told the team, he'd be bombarded with questions he didn't want to answer when he woke up- "Keith fell asleep."

"Weird," Lance heard Shiro mutter under his breath, tightening his arm around Allura. "Guess it means he trusts you, Lance."

Lance held back a scoff.

And the movie continued.

* * *

Lance groaned, opening his eyes groggily. 

He didn't remember falling asleep.

To be honest, he only really remembers small snippets of the movie, and a warm, comforting pressure on his lap, where Keith's head was resting and... and then he remembers black.

So really, he doesn't know how he ended up in Keith's arms, head resting on his chest, while Keith slept peacefully above him.

Without thinking, Lance got up and stretched, popping his back. No one else was in the room- Just Keith and Lance.

So no one would care if he did this...

He placed a soft kiss to Keith's forehead, and left the room.

He didn't hear the click of the camera, or Pidge's snickering.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SHORT AGAIN,,,,  
> THE ANGST IS COMING AND IT;LL BE PROBABLY LONG IM SORRY  
> hurt keith is a drug and im high on it


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ageignaekg   
> ANGST

"Keith?" Lance asked, pushing away a rock. "Where are you?"

The response was surrounded by static.

Groaning, Lance stomped his foot.

"How am I supposed to find him if I don't know where he is?!" He complained, throwing his arms into the air.

Today was a horrible day.

* * *

It started out with a mission.

Despite his worry, Keith would explore a planet solo, without his armour, so he'd seem peaceful to the locals. He'd only have his helmet. He would come back to the Castle in  an hour, and if not, Lance would down to get him.

He didn't come back.

Lance went down, armour and all, rifle raised and aimed at anything in front of him. He tried talking to Keith through his comms, but only received static and incoherent words. He followed Keith's signature into a cave, but it suddenly beeped out. With a huff, he had entered the cave, calling Keith's name. It wasn't the smartest choice, but he couldn't think of anything else. To make things even better, he couldn't contact the others, either.

His only backup was Blue.

He didn't have a time limit.

"Keith?" Lance asked, pushing away a rock. "Where are you?"

The response was surrounded by static, unsurprisingly.

Groaning, Lance stomped his foot.

"How am I supposed to find him if I don't know where he is?!" He complained, throwing his arms into the air.

This whole damn place was filled with rocks, and God, Lance was getting  _so_ annoyed. They kept getting in his way, threatening to trip him. He threw a scowl at the orange rock he pushed away, and trudged forwards, bayard in hand.

"...him?" someone definitely not Keith asked. Lance, unsure of what to do, ducked behind one of the cavern's rock wall, rifle materialized and in his hands.

"Zarkon said if we found any paladins to keep them alive,"  _Zarkon_. Did they have Keith?

"He doesn't look alive..."

Lance froze. Could Keith be dead? 

He poked his head into the corner, eyes squinting at the harsh lights.

There were four Galra, not drones,  _Galra_ , surrounding a figure that was leaning against the wall-

 _Keith_.

"How do we check to see if he's alive?"

"I..." The Galra scratched his ear. "I don't know."

"Bring him to Haggar, maybe?" One suggested, shifting from foot to foot.

"I guess," the first grumbled, leaning down to pick up Keith's arm. "We should cuff him, in case he is alive, and decides to wake up-"

The Galra didn't get to finish his sentence.

There was a hole in his throat.

He crumpled to the ground, a puddle of blood already forming beneath him.

The others three started firing their guns, forcing Lance to duck back behind the wall. He needed  _backup_ -

"Come out here or-" The Galra broke off. "or I'll shoot him!"

No, no-

With a suppressed sigh, he came out.

And shot the remaining Galra.

He huffed a short laugh, despite his anxiousness. He didn't want to kill real, flesh, people. He'd only killed drones before. Even if they were rookies, he shouldn't have killed them.

He ran the short distance to Keith's side, scanning him up and down.

There was blood trailing from both corners of his mouth, accompanied by a split lip. Half of his face was bruised, there was a nasty, bloody cut on his forehead, and his arm was definitely not bent in the right direction.

"Trying to follow in Shiro's footsteps, huh?" Lance laughed, fear and worry overcoming him. He couldn't carry Keith the whole way back-

The cave rumbled around them.

_No._

He definitely wouldn't be able to now.

A new determination found, he laid Keith onto the floor completely, even if it could cause more internal damage, and laid over him, forearms braced on either sides of his head-

A rock hit his back.

Another hit his head.

Everything went black.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUBA9J0EGONNG  
> SORRY  
>  ITS SHORT AND SUCKS IK SORRY I JUST NEEDED T O UPDATE NEXT ONE SHOULD BE EBTTER IABGUEINIGUAIGNAEBU  
> also, no, this was not the +1. they explain how he was cradled next chapter :))


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hhhh  
> the cradling for last chapter is kind of in this one, sorry

When Lance woke up, everything was a blur. There was red all around him, something warm on his back, accompanied with a string of words Lance could  _not_ make out, and unconsciousness was still pulling at his strings...

He let his eyes flutter close, catching a glimpse of Keith's worried, dirty, bloody face.

* * *

The next time he woke up it was due to an electric shock travelling through his chest.

He gasped, jerking awake, arms flailing wildly.

Even blurred, he recognized Shiro's white and black hair, and Coran's ginger moustache. He turned his head slightly, feeling as if he forgot something important...

"K-" he coughed, something wet bubbling out of his throat. It dribbled down his chin. "Kei..."

"In a pod, he's oka..."

He didn't get to hear the rest of his sentence. 

Everything went black once more.

* * *

The third time he woke up, he tripped over his own feet, falling out of the cold blue th- healing pod. He stumbled into someone's chest, placing both palms on it. Thin arms wrapped around him. Lance struggled to open his eyes, not recognizing the person holding him...

"Hey," they said softly, that voice- "You okay?"

Lance nodded, forcing his feet beneath him. He opened his eyes, coming face to face- well, face to shirt, with Keith's red, cropped jacket. Lance frowned, pushing himself out of Keith's grasp.

_4 bonding moments for Keith, none for me. Yippee._

_You're on, Kogane._

"I..." he licked his lips, finding them insanely dry. Weird. "Y-yeah. Super. Good."

Keith was staring at him when he looked back up, purple eyes wet and face crumpling. He launched himself at Lance, throwing his arms around Lance's neck and dropping his head onto Lance's shoulder. "You better be," he growled, but it was wrecked with the suppressed sobs. Lance stumbled, throwing an arm to grab at the rim of the pod to steady them, and the other around Keith's shaking, lower back. "Y-you had a broken spine, and a concussion, a-and-"

"I'm fine now," Lance assured him, rubbing his back. He placed his cheek on Keith's head, eyes welling with tears hen he remembered Keith's state. " _You_ had at least four broken ribs," he lied, but it was probably true. He saw how much blood fell out of his mouth, and he saw the bruising.

"More than four," Keith muttered, fingers digging into Lance's bicep.

"Exactly," Lance hissed, tightening his arm around Keith. "If I hadn't protected you from those rocks, you would be  _dead_."

"I'd have been fine," Keith muttered, pushing away from Lance. He crossed his arms, red eyes downcast.

"No, you wouldn't have. I'm guessing here, tell me if I'm wrong," Lance planted his hands on his hips, glaring at the shorter boy. "I had at least three broken ribs, a broken limb," Keith didn't deny any of it, unconsciously curling into himself as he sniffled. "And you told me I had a broken spine and a concussion.  _You_ had broken ribs, a broken arm, a concussion, and, I don't know, fucking brain damage?" Keith shifted on his feet, bangs hiding his face from view. "If I didn't cover you from the rocks, you would have another broken bone, a broken spine, and even more broken ribs," Lance hissed out, crossing his arms. He took a step forward. "So, no, you would not have been fine. Don't give me that shit."

Keith inhaled shakily, fingers fidgeting where they rested on his biceps.

"Moron," he muttered softly, pulling Keith into another hug.

He'd repay Keith, and win this bonding moment competition that Keith most definitely started.

But he'd make Keith feel better first.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> all of thesechapters are so short smh


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoops its short my bAD  
> like,, shorter than usual, its about half a page long.. the next one should be longer? maybe?

"It's just twisted," Lance complained, still trying to desperately wiggle his way out of Keith's arms. Keith looked down at him with a frown, tightened his grip, and kept a steady pace to the infirmary. "Keith!"

"What?" Keith snapped, stopping in place. "Do you want me to just drop you?"

"Well- no, but-"

"But  _what_?" Keith hissed, glaring down at Lance.

"I-" Lance trailed off, mind short on words. He supposes that's normal, after having woken up twenty minutes ago, holding Keith while he slept on, peacefully, blissfully unaware of Lance's inner turmoil. Lance had proceeded to scrambled out of the bed once Keith had woken up, and tripped in the process, and, in total, twisting his ankle. "Don't know," he finished, shifting uncomfortably in Keith's arms.

"Then I'm carrying you to the med bay so you don't hurt your ankle even more," Keith spat, and they continued on their way.

God, Lance hoped Pidge didn't take any pho-

 _Click_.

"Put me down!"

"We just went-"

"No- I don't care, I can fucking walk," Lance spat out, cheeks flaming. "I don't need your fucking help."

Keith, scowl quickly replaced by stone, dropped Lance in a split second and left, leaving behind a very confused- well, not really, but he was faking obliviousness so Keith would be  _less_ mad, even if that's not the smartest choice- Lance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jfc that was short okay,,,,  
> the next chapter, i promise, will be much much longer!! and angstier,,, whoops


	6. +1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *wheezes*

Lance knew that the second they stepped into the Castle, the Queen disliked them. He doesn’t know why, but he can feel the disgust radiating off of her in waves when her eyes meet Keith, and then him.

Allura beckons them forwards from where she’s standing in the centre of the room, in front of the Queen’s throne.

The throne is big, easily the size of a small apartment, but the Queen hardly takes up it’s space. From the looks of it, she’s a few inches taller than Lance, with a green body as wide as Hunk’s. She has red, waist long hair that slowly fades into blue near the ends. Her eyes glow orange in the dark castle, blue pupils popping out due to the contrast.

Her guards are about the same, a little taller and wider with black armour covering their skin. They hold a variety of weapons; One’s holding a normal sword, another’s holding a blaster, and the third one is holding a sword that splits off into a multitude of smaller swords. 

They all seem to be watching Keith and Lance.

Allura seems oblivious to it all as she speaks to the Queen about an alliance, about how ‘they could protect the Universe against the Galra Empire with your help!’. 

He still isn’t sure why she only brought Keith and Lance; something about the colours black, yellow and green disrespecting their culture, he thinks.

Lance suppresses a shiver as the Queen’s eyes meet his. She continues to stare at him even when Allura finishes speaking, even when the Queen herself starts to speak to Allura.

Once again, Allura doesn’t notice.

Keith does.

He steps in front of Lance, muscles tense as he blocks off the Queen’s view of him, even if he’s shorter than Lance. 

Lance sees the guards stiffen out of the corner of his eyes, but none move to attack.

He can’t say he’s not relieved; Having the Queen continuously stare at him was making him uncomfortable, so he is very thankful for Keith’s sixth sense to tell when Lance is distressed, but he doesn’t want to admit that he does, in fact, need Keith’s help, even for something as small as this.

”...this way, please,” the Queen says, breaking Lance away from his thoughts. Lance blanches beneath his helmet, having heard none of what she said.

He moves to follow as Allura strides forwards, but Keith wraps his fingers around Lance’s wrist and tugs sharply, halting Lance’s movement.

”Dude,” he hisses, careful to keep his voice low as Allura and the Queen leave the room, accompanied by the guard with the blaster. “What-“

”She said Allura only,” Keith’s voice is like ice; sharp and piercing. 

“Oh,” Lance exhales, pulling his wrist away from Keith’s. He relaxes into a casual stand beside Keith, purposely avoiding any eye contact with the two remaining guards. “Thanks.”

He hears Keith inhale sharply, as if preparing himself to speak, then-

A blast echoes through the room, headed straight for him-

He’s shoved to the side, to the ground, as the blast reaches where he had once been standing; where Keith _is_ standing.

”Keith!” he scrambles to his feet in time to catch Keith, who’s legs had folded beneath his weight. He lands against Lance with a pained gasp, fingers weakly scrabbling for purchase along the smooth armour. “Keith, hey, it’s fine-“

But it’s not.

The guard with the knife kink has his sword raised like a blaster, all of the mini swords from before gone.

With panic crawling up his throat, he shakily looks at Keith’s torso.

His left side and part of his stomach is riddled with deep cuts and scratches, some sling barely hanging on. There’s a small pool of knives where he was standing, all covered in various amounts of blood.

”What-“ Lance gasps, shifting to hold more of Keith’s weight. Keith groans low in his throat, allowing himself to be manhandled by Lance. “What the hell-“

The guard with the sword-gun thing lowers his weapon and takes a step forward. Lance activated his bayard and shifts Keith to one arm to hold it threateningly. “Do _not_ ,” he grits out, finger twitching on the trigger. “Come any closer.” 

The guard halts in his path.

He keeps his bayard aimed at the guard while he slowly backs away, a white knuckled grip on Keith, who’s weakly trying to push away and stand on his own, even though he most definitely cannot.

”Le’go,” it comes out weak and gravelley, as if it had been shredded beforehand. It’s a surprise Lance had heard it, considering how quiet it had been; no more than a whisper.

But it distracts Lance.

He looks down for a second- not even, half a second, and the next thing he knows, a white hot pain is bursting from the back of his neck and there’s screaming-

Oh.

That’s him.

His vision greys out and he must’ve passed out, because when he opens his eyes, the second guard he had forgotten about is raising his foot above Keith’s chest.

Then there’s another scream; one that isn’t Lance’s as the guard’s foot goes down.

He doesn’t know how he manages to stand up and tackle the guard, or how he manages to take down both of the guards and gather his unconscious (he’s unconscious, only unconscious) teammate into his arms. He doesn’t know how he manages to run while feeling Keith’s blood slip through his fingers.

He doesn’t really care, either.

Occasionally, Keith will let out a quiet whimper or a pained groan, but he doesn’t make much more noise; nor does he wake up.

When he’s in the clearing where they had decided to land Blue (the logical choice for this mission; it was an ice planet, Blue’s whole thing was ice), Keith shivers in his arms and somehow manages to get closer.

It’s only then does he realize that with a hole in Keith’s suit, _his body_ , the heat won’t be able to stay in the suit, much less keep him warm.

He pushes himself faster when he realizes that Keith could freeze to death before they get into Blue.

He’s nearly there, he can see her gorgeous build, they’re so close, when he remembers that Allura is inside, still trying to form an alliance-

Keith lets out a small, pain filled whimper, eyes fluttering open to reveal dull, glassy, violet orbs.

They can come back for her.

”L...Lan...” He can hardly hear it over the sound of wind whipping against ice, but he can, and his heart nearly breaks from how pained it sounds; how small he sounds. “L...”

”Shh,” Lance forces his aching legs to go faster. “Don’t talk. It’s gonna be okay, you’re gonna be fine-“

”I...” Lance dares a look down, trying to ignore the tightness of his throat and the sting behind his eyes. “I... I’m n-not gonna...”

”Yes,” Lance interrupts sharply, pulling Keith even closer when he shivers again. “You are. We’re almost there.”

”I...” Keith sucks in a harsh breath. “I-“ he ends up coughing, his entire frame shaking with the effort.

Lance keeps running.

* * *

By the time they make it to Blue, Keith has stopped shivering, which would be all well and good if he could go two seconds without coughing.

Keith’s lips are coated with a sheen of blood, his chin speckled in dots of it. His head lolls from where it’s perched on Lance’s forearm, but he’s still awake.

He’s still alive.

Lance is panting when they enter Blue, arms and legs trembling from exertion. He’s finally starting to notice how heavy Keith is; how tired he is. He fights his way through until he can sit on the pilot seat, Keith cradled securely in his arms.

He places one hand on Keith’s wound and presses down to slow the bleeding. Keith starts to scream, but ends up hacking up globs of blood instead. They smear on the whites of their armour. Keith sags against him, clearly spent, as Lance uses his other hand to direct Keith’s head to his chest instead of his arm.

He keeps it around Keith’s shoulders as he grabs the controls of Blue and urges her to start flying.

”Lance!”

Lance jumps, earning a quiet groan from Keith, who grumpily burrows further in Lance’s arms.

Lance cranes his neck so he can see who’s behind him, fingers already clenched around his bayard-

A view of brown skin and white hair comes into view, behind the pilot’s seat, and he turns back around.

”Hey,” he says, lettie his bayard disappear and putting his hand back on the controls.

_Fly_

Blue takes off without any more explanation, allowing Lance to let go of the controls and hold Keith closer.

”I am very sorry,” Allura says, resting a hand on his shoulder. “The Queen explained to me that only _she_ could wear Red or Blue,” her voice is laced with venom, eyes narrowed into a steely glare as she looks ahead. Her eyes soften as she looks at Keith, who’s eyes are half lidded and panting against Lance’s armour. “If anyone else wore it it was punishable by death in whatever way the guards deemed preferable.”

Lance nods.

”We are not going back there,” she confirms, removing her hand from his shoulder. She walks forwards until she’s kneeling in front of them; rests a hand on Keith’s thigh, gaining his attention.

He blinks sluggishly, tilting his head down a fraction to look at her. “Hi,” he murmurs, voice still sounding like gravel. He winces, a sharp cough erupting from his chest. More blood speckles his face.

”Hello indeed,” she smiles softly, rubbing small circles onto his thigh. “How are you feeling?”

Lance waits with baited breath as Keith processes what she said.

”Ribs hurt,” he says as an answer, letting himself sag further against Lance. “Side too.”

”Yes,” Allura nods. Lance feels traitorous tears gather in his eyes. “I could imagine.”

”...pod?” he asks quietly, eyes filled with so much pain and hope Lance’s heart shatters into pieces.

”Soon,” Allura says.

Soon, this whole mess will be over, and they can help him.

Soon, Keith will be okay.

But right now, in the present, all he can do is hold Keith close and hope for the best.

**Author's Note:**

> sorry for the length, i just needed to get this out of my drafts  
> um, so, there will be seven chapters- 5 + 1 + a bit of an aftermath  
> sorry it's really short.  
> The updates'll be all over the place- same with the new dark lance work i have- because i'm trying to focus on a few things. but don't worry, i already have an ending planned- it will not be abandoned, just slow updates.  
> alriggght. bye.


End file.
